


Unexpected Guests

by Absolutely_Barbaric



Category: Original Work
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Illness/injury, Original Characters (not mine) - Freeform, Uber Creepy Antagonist, Whump, commissions, seriously tw for overall slimyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-27 08:11:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19786819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Absolutely_Barbaric/pseuds/Absolutely_Barbaric
Summary: Another commission for derberner! These are some new characters and they're absolutely wonderful <3 (except david. david can die plz and thx)A misstep while Fallon and Julian are on the run get them into some trouble. And it's certainly not the last time.





	Unexpected Guests

The idea of a cross-country roadtrip to New York would sound exciting to any newly single sucker ready for a change. Unfortunately the excitement wore out after the first hundred mile stretch of cornfields, and with Fallon nodding off at the wheel by the time they made it into Denver, it was obvious that they needed to call it a night.

“Hey,” he yawned, waking Julian from the passenger’s seat. “You ready to settle in? There’s a hotel on every block here, we might as well.”

“Hm? Yeah…My back is starting to hurt.”

It struck Julian as kind of funny how desperate he was in need of sleep when he’d done nothing but sit in a car all day. Earlier he was chatting nonstop with questions about what hotels looked like, how big the rooms were, and whether or not it was sanitary to sleep in the same place hundreds of people had slept in before you—the answer was a resounding  _ no _ from Fallon. But he could barely keep his eyes open while they checked in, or do anything more than drag his feet until they were at their door, where he had to decide if he wanted to force himself to take a shower or flop on the bed and fall asleep with greasy hair. Against his own screaming will, he reluctantly chose the former.

Unsurprisingly, the only rooms available at such late notice were all kings, no double beds. Neither of them were awake enough to give it a second thought. As Julian stumbled into the bathroom for his shower, Fallon did his best to strip down for bed without bumping into everything in his exhaustion. All was peaceful, the only thing left to do was to get a good night’s sleep. He’d only managed to take off his shirt and pull back the covers on his side when there was a knock at the door, startling him out of his hazy state.

“ _ Housekeeping! _ ”

He blinked. The very first thing that made him skeptical was,  _ can dudes be maids?  _ Shrugging it off, he went to answer the door. And as he unlocked the hatch to turn the knob, the second thing that struck him was,  _ why would they be here this late? _

His hand reacted before his mind and tried to slam the door shut, but their intruder reacted quicker. The door was forced open and in stormed Agent Foster, who was followed behind by a skyscraper tall man who hardly noticed Fallon’s presence at all. The only thing that seemed to bother him was that whatever he was searching for appeared to be absent. Then, his gaze was drawn to the sound of the shower running from the bathroom.

“So nice of you to let us in at this hour. Were you expecting company?” Fallon’s pallor said it all. “No? Just stupid? Doesn’t surprise me.” The stranger closed his eyes, took a deep whiff and let a pleased smile twist across his cheeks. “ _ Mmm... _ I see my little runaway is getting all dolled up for me.”

“ _ You‘re—!” _

His hideous remark snapped Fallon into reality. This  _ had _ to be the creep Julian was talking about, the one who he ran away from…The one pulling Foster’s strings, no doubt. Acting before he could think, he grabbed the hilt of the lamp from the nightstand and raised it above his head, but in the two seconds it took him to waver, Foster grabbed his wrist and shoved him hard. He felt his body slam against the wall before he could comprehend it, then fingers digging at his throat straight into the bone, strong enough to make him panic that he would get his trachea crushed before he suffocated. Eyes wide as saucers, he started to scratch at Foster’s arms, but it was no use. He couldn’t move his wrist, no matter how much he tried. He couldn’t do anything but squirm.

The shower shut off and Fallon could hear Julian clamoring around the bathroom to get dressed and come out. As he helplessly kicked harder at Agent Foster to let him go, the man who had to be David observed him through the most nonchalant gaze, sighing powerfully as if this were an enormous effort on his part.

“Uppity little rat, aren’t you? You’ve got some nerve, stealing my property and making me come all this way to collect it...Don’t kill him just yet, Liam. I want to show my little chick just what happens when you fly the coop.”

Foster released his neck on command, causing Fallon to sway backwards in the throws of vertigo before his hands were tightly restrained behind his back. Funny enough he didn’t notice when his throat was being crushed to death, but his wrist  _ hurt _ , and Foster squeezing it alone was almost enough to make him scream. David strode up, yanked his chin to meet only centimeters away from his piercing gaze and hissed,

“ _ You can run all you like, but you can’t hide. _ ”

As if on cue, Julian came dashing out of the bathroom with Fallon’s name on his lips, only to choke on it when he saw they had company.

“You kept me waiting,  _ sunshine _ ,” David purred. “Are you nice and fresh for me?”

“W-W-Why...How—“

“Your chauffeur let me in. Not the brightest bulb in the box, is he? Certainly he was stupid enough to try and part you from me.”

Julian went white as a ghost, every muscle frozen stiff when he saw Fallon restrained. Sickened by the thought of what he knew David could do to him, he leaned his weight against the wall, a shaking hand over his mouth.

“Let him go…Please, let him go, he didn’t know anything!”

“Now, now. You know I don’t like boys who lie.”

He gave Fallon a thoughtful look over, utterly repulsed by what he saw, and turned back to face Julian. “Surely you didn’t run off with a mess like this of your own free will. No, not when you have  _ me _ …He must have coerced you. Let’s say we teach him a lesson?”

“Please don’t,” Julian begged through his violently trembling fingers. “Please don’t, please, please don’t…”

His begging must have incensed David, because his sick grin took on a betrayed frown as he kept his eyes trained on Fallon.

“ _ Julian,  _ get out of here,  _ run!  _ I’ll be fine!”

“Julian? What’s this, a pet name?  _ Forget it _ , I’ve had enough of this ridiculous show.”

The flip of a switch knife stopped Fallon’s breathing altogether. He’d been in his fair share of fist fights, but nothing anywhere near this serious. Against his stomach the blade was ice cold, as was the sweat that beaded his forehead and the chill of David’s eyes, searching his body for the best place to slice. Julian could bear it no longer.

“ _ I’ll go with you! _ ” he shouted. The only thing that kept Fallon from sinking to his knees was Agent Foster’s iron grip—how could he make such a stupid decision? There was no way he could be serious. “I’ll go with you so just...J-Just don’t hurt him,  _ please,  _ he doesn’t deserve it!”

“Julian…”

It took a few seconds for Fallon to understand that he indeed wasn’t serious. Julian had been glancing between Agent Foster and Fallon the whole time he spoke, motioning with the flicker of his eyes… _ I’ll get him to let you go. You do the rest. _ Neither had an ounce of confidence in their sudden unspoken plan, but there were limited options.

“Julian,  _ no! _ ” Fallon exclaimed. “Save yourself!” He was beginning to think that with his terrible acting, maybe it was better if he shut his mouth altogether. But David seemed to be buying it, fortunately enough. The words that he was just barely controlled enough to keep out of his mouth were,  _ who’s stupid now? _

“Finally coming to our senses, are we? You’ll come with me, no fuss, no tantrums?”

“Y-Yes…I was wrong, I never should have run from you. I was foolish, so  _ please _ forgive me…”

Julian looked up at him from under his batting lashes. “Please, _ sir… _ ”

Fallon gagged at the shine in David’s eyes. They had him right where they wanted him, at the price of his lunch.

“Good boy, that’s what I like to hear. Let the rat go, Liam. I’ll deal with him another time.  _ You _ ,” His finger drew in like a crooked tendril, beckoning Julian to him, “You’re coming with me.”

Fallon was freed, but he had only seconds to act. In the moment that David lowered his guard to creep his free hand over Julian’s shoulder, admiring his tense submission, he took what might have been the only chance he had, grabbed a cup of coffee he’d brewed only minutes ago with the machine from the credenza and threw it. Although uncoordinated with his left hand, he still managed to splash scalding hot liquid all over David’s face, forcing him to stumble backwards into the wall, hollering wildly with his hands over his eyes. They didn’t have a lot of time before he recovered—as soon as Fallon grabbed Julian’s hand and ran out the door, they could already hear Foster’s heavy footsteps chasing after them, with David’s voice screeching profanities not too far behind. His rage was unnerving, Julian had that written all over his face.

They made for the stairwell, counting their blessings with each step that they were only on the third floor, and darted outside to the pool lounge. Clumsily, Julian hopped the fence and tumbled over, tripping over himself to get up and keep running when he saw Fallon hesitating on the other side.

“What are you waiting for?! We have to get out of here!”

“Shit, I know—“

Only now did it occur to him that there was yet another problem. Fallon had been holding his wrist the whole way down the stairs, and by the looks of it, it was too much to even try to let go of it. He could barely make a fist without excruciating pain. Swallowing hard, he grit his teeth and slung one arm over the top of the fence, tried to hike his leg over…No dice. He couldn’t do it with only one hand.

“Julian—“ he panted. “You’ve gotta pull me up.”

Julian didn’t move. He wasn’t tall enough to reach past Fallon’s wrist…Just imagining the sheer agony of having to yank his fractured bone up over the fence turned his stomach.

“Come on, quickly! He’s gonna find you!”

Screwing his eyes shut, Julian reached over and took hold of both of Fallon’s hands, trying his absolute hardest to ignore his choked screaming as he half-kicked, half-threw him over, landing themselves on the ground with a hard  _ thud _ . Fallon curled up briefly over the asphalt, hissing through his teeth before he forced himself to get it together and stood on shaky legs. They were running again before they knew it, running and running until they were out of air and even then, they continued down every twist and turn and alleyway, finding themselves collapsed in some hidden nook where all was quiet but their own winded gasping.

Julian’s legs had given out, but it looked like Fallon’s entire body next to him had simply crumbled. He knelt down in front of him, staring wordlessly at the terrible bright red swelling over the protrusion of bone underneath his skin.

“Motherfucker…” Fallon seethed, red-faced. “If I ever see that meathead…and his creepy fucking  _ puppeteer  _ again…I  _ swear… _ ”

“Here, let me take care of it.”

“ _ No. _ ”

Julian’s eyes went wide. “Wh...What? But it’s broken…”

“It’s not fatal. Just need a splint, that’s all. This baby’ll— _ nngh!— _ be healed in no time, two months tops.”

Julian just looked at him, utterly speechless.

“Look, I’m not gonna make you go through that just to speed up the process.  _ I’m gonna be fine, Julian. _ ”

“But...Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It hurts like a bitch. That’s why I know…” He leaned his head against the rain-soaked brick, letting out a deep breath he’d been holding for too long, “I don’t want you to take the pain if you don’t absolutely need to.” He saw Julian’s doubtful eyes and added, “Don’t worry. This shit’s not gonna happen again. I was being careless this time, but I can tell you one thing: that freak’s not gonna cross our path anymore, I’ll make sure of it.”

“You’re not telling the truth, are you?” said Julian.

“...Nope,” Fallon smiled wryly. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

“No.”

Julian took his wrist gently, and Fallon let him simply for the fact that he physically couldn’t stop him. “Seriously, I’m fine…“

“ _ Shh. _ ”

He closed his eyes, focused…and like ripping off a bandaid—however that metaphor worked here—he brought the wound into his body. At first, much like when it happened to Fallon, he was too stunned to feel it. Then, the swelling rapidly became more and more agitated until he was unwittingly squeezing Fallon’s arm, shuddering from the pain. 

“ _ Sorry—“ _

“It doesn’t hurt. Just focus on healing yourself.” Hearing his stiff words aloud sounded so stupid, but he didn’t know what else to say. There was nothing  _ to _ say, he was still getting used to this sudden change in his reality. This was a human being that could ‘take’ other humans maladies and heal them within himself. Anyone would struggle for decent words.

Carefully, Fallon pulled his arm back and wrapped it over Julian’s shoulder, watching closely as the tightness in his expression eased and his grip relaxed over his own wrist.

“Is it any better?”

“A little…I’m—“ Julian blinked away tears, unsure if they were from the pain or the guilt. Or the fear of almost being taken again. Could be anything at this point, really. Fallon 

knew this, and squeezed Julian’s shoulder supportively to tell him he knew it well. “I’m sorry I got you hurt.”

“ _ Hey, _ ” Fallon spoke in a reassuring whisper. “I made the choice to take you, okay? It’s not like you were holding a gun to my head. I chose to get into this and I’m choosing to stick with it. No matter  _ what _ happens, I’m still gonna get us to New York, just like I promised.” He flashed a grin, and Julian was certain; he was telling the truth. “What’s the deal with that guy, anyway? You told me he wasn’t pleasant, but Jesus.”

Julian kept his eyes locked to the ground, his knees tightly hugged into his arms.

“It’s…it’s a long story.”

“Well, we’ve got all night.”


End file.
